When It Happened
by katiekayx
Summary: Some missing moments and future moments between Lincoln and AltLivia. Spoilers for "Bloodlines".


**A/N:** _Now I know, I know, I am long past due with an update for _Keep Calm_, but this idea popped into my head and I __had__ to write it. I like this one, and I'm sorry if it sort of jumps around a lot, but it should be pretty easy to follow. Some missing moments and some future moments in the lives of our favorite alt!couple. This is a short one, but I hope everyone still likes it! Please review!_

* * *

><p>It happened in China Town. The miraculous birth of Henry, and the birth of something else inside of Lincoln that he had been trying very hard (and unsuccessfully, according to Charlie) to keep a secret. So he said it. Blurted it, really, without very much thought. You tend not to think as much when someone you care very much about is on their death bed. It's the way it should be. Just say what you feel, consequences be damned.<p>

So he did, and nothing really happened, not that he had expected it to, and then things sort of went back to normal. He went back to work, she went home, and he continued, every other day without fail, to show up at her house with a smile and a new toy for Henry. The boy was spoiled rotten. He would babysit for a few hours here and there while she took a shower, or talked on the phone, or did laundry or something else.

It happened when she offhandedly mentioned how stupid it was that he kept going home for a change of clothes in the morning. So he started to keep a spare change of clothes at her place that eventually turned into almost half of his wardrobe, and eventually he stopped going home. It wasn't anything that they talked about or discussed, it just happened. Her place was closer to headquarters and he was tired, and didn't feel like driving all the way home. That's what he told himself. During this weird time for their world, he didn't want to think about what it all meant. He just wanted to be near her, so that's what he did.

It happened after the fifteenth time had slept on her couch. He woke up with a back ache and a bad attitude, and they argued.

"You don't have to stay here, Lincoln. No one's forcing you."

"I told you, it's not the staying here part that gets me!"

"Then what in God's name are you talking about, because I can't figure you out!"

"All I'm saying is that there's no room here for all of us and it's not working out."

"Well once I win the lottery, I'll work on getting a mansion."

"Dammit, Liv."

"What? You're being ridiculous."

"Well I think you should move in with me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

That was it, no conversation, no debate, just the two of them angrily storming off to opposite sides of the house and avoiding each other for the rest of the day. Lincoln started to feel guilty, and so he walked into Olivia's room intending to apologize, but found her asleep on the bed, Henry sitting up next to her, looking around with wide eyes. All of his anger fading away, he picked up the baby, careful not to wake Olivia.

"Shhh, buddy, Mama's trying to sleep!" He said quietly when Henry began to whimper, and Olivia stirred anyway. She woke up and the two stared at each other for a minute. "Liv…" Lincoln started, but Olivia just shook her head.

"I know."

From that day on, there was a mutual understanding. They cared for one another, more than either of them were willing to say, or in Lincoln's case, more than he was willing to repeat. They started packing up Olivia's stuff the next day.

It happened when, after three months of living together, he came home from work later than she did only to find her making dinner. He smelled it before he saw her, and when he saw her in the kitchen, talking to Henry quietly, and wearing one of his old Fringe sweatshirts, the breath was knocked right out of him. This arrangement they had, and the intimacy that it carried was more than Lincoln could handle and before he knew was he was doing, he was walking into the kitchen with that determined walk he had, and was pulling her into his arms, hugging her as close to him as he could.

She didn't say anything, just looked up at him with a smile and he had wanted to kiss her, so badly. He didn't, afraid to ruin anything that they had worked so hard to achieve, and released her from his embrace. He smiled, told her whatever she was making smelled good, and walked over to Henry in his high chair and gave the little boy a pat on the head as he passed by. Olivia smiled to herself when she was sure he was out of the room.

The next time it happened, Henry had just turned six months old. The end of the world hadn't happened, the machine had been shut off, and both Olivia and Lincoln slept better at night knowing that the other universe had been spared as well. Things were finally starting to get back to normal, so they decided that Henry should be able to have a birthday party. They invited Charlie, and Astrid, and of course Marilyn was there. There was cake, and someone (Lincoln vehemently denied it was him, but Olivia had a knowing smile on her face the entire evening) had even gotten chocolate frosting to go with the cake. It's amazing what they took for granted on the other side, Olivia had thought, but didn't have much time to think it before the aforementioned chocolate was being smeared on her cheek, and she was gasping in shock while everyone else laughed.

"You're a dead man." She had said, eyes narrowing as she looked at Lincoln.

He feigned hurt, "Don't just assume it was me!"

She rolled her eyes and he subtly pulled her to him, his arm going around her shoulder in that comforting way that he had, and she couldn't help but smile. "If it got in my hair, I'm really going to kill you."

Lincoln laughed, and Olivia was overcome with relief in the moment to hear a sound that had been so sparse lately, with everything that had been happening. She looked up at him and couldn't help herself. She leaned upwards and gave him a chaste kiss on the mouth before going to find a napkin.

Lincoln was frozen in place with a goofy grin on his face when he heard little Henry squealing from his spot on the floor with his Grandma.

"He approves, apparently…" Marilyn said simply, and Lincoln laughed again, unable to believe his luck.

When the moment he had always been waiting to happen finally did, he was caught off guard. He was distracted by something, and the next thing he knew, shots were being fired and he saw a flash of red as Olivia ducked behind something.

The next thing he felt was a searing pain in his left arm, and he couldn't take the pain. He felt another pain in his lower back and collapsed, unable to stand on his feet for another minute.

"Lincoln!" He heard her shout, and more shots rang out.

"Liv…" He tried to call weakly, but the warehouse was too big, and it was too loud, and there was no way she'd be able to get to him without putting herself in danger.

Everything he had never said to her was in the forefront of his mind. Watching movies with her while the baby slept in his arms, all the times they'd cooked for each other and took care of one another were the only thing keeping him breathing. He needed more of those moments.

Somehow she had gotten to him, and her auburn hair hung in her face as she pulled him off to the side where they wouldn't be seen. Her hands were shaking, and so was her voice as she talked to him. "You're okay; you're going to be fine. Just keep your eyes open, okay? Stay with me."

"Olivia…" He rasped out, the pain getting worse, "I…"

"Whatever it is, you can tell me later, at home." She said firmly, but he saw the fear in her eyes and he needed her to know.

"Liv, I… I love you." He said, and he hadn't said it since China Town and he was so relieved to say it again, that he felt like if he had more time, he would say it to her every chance he got, just for the feeling it brought to him.

"Lincoln…" She said, and he could hear the pain in her voice, see the tears she was too proud to cry brimming in her eyes, "You're… you're everything to me." She said quietly, and his heart leapt, and he felt like if this was it, he would die happy. "Don't you dare leave me." She said after that, and his hand made its way to her face to brush away some of her tears.

"It really hurts," he admitted, and tried to keep his eyes open, he really did. They kept slipping shut, and he could hear her begging him to stay, and he wanted to, god, how he wanted to. He was just too tired. Everything went black.

When he woke up in the hospital a day later, fresh stitches in his back and arm, he thought he had dreamt the whole thing up. That is, until he saw her curled up in the chair with Henry in her arms. The little boy's eyes were open, and on Lincoln, as if he had been waiting for him to wake up. Henry babbled something, and Lincoln grinned. "Hey, little man. You're not tired?" Lincoln sat up, feeling a pain shoot through his arm, and he winced. "Son of a…"

"Daddy's getting old, huh Henry." He heard her voice, and he grinned even more when she maneuvered Henry out of her lap and into her arms, walking over to Lincoln. She put Henry down on Lincoln's lap, and the little boy curled up to him, babbling something else. "Hi." She said, and sat down at the edge of the bed. "You gave me a scare back there…"

"I'm sorry, Liv." He said, and she shook her head.

"We're even now." She said, smirking.

He grabbed her hand and linked their fingers together before bringing them up to his mouth. "Did you mean it?"

"Of course I did." She said, a little offended that he hadn't thought so. "You're stuck with us, I'm afraid." She said, gesturing towards Henry, who had fallen asleep.

"Good." Lincoln said, and they locked gazes, slowly leaning towards each other. Their lips met with a passion that neither of them was really expecting, and Lincoln felt as though liquid fire was spreading through his body. She opened her mouth to him, and he moaned softly. Her hand was in his hair, and his rested on her knee, and everything was perfect to him.

That's when it happened. When he loved her, and she loved him, and he finally felt like he was exactly where he should be.


End file.
